Introduction
Accessity opens the doors of financial opportunity for entrepreneurs through access to small business loans and a community of support and resources. The team came to Mixte with challenges to generate leads and increase applications for funding, and the small business micro-funder also needed interim communications support while its tenured communications director stepped away for Family Leave.
Our Objectives
Accessity worked closely with Mixte to develop systems and procedures for media relations, digital marketing and strategic communication activities. We aimed to expand awareness, develop qualified leads and create opportunities for Accessity to better reach two of its key audiences – BIPOC and underserved business owners. The goal was to drive prospective clients to apply for loans or enroll in training programs.
The Work
One of this organization’s ongoing challenges is reaching small business owners who need Accessity most. It’s a unique challenge in reaching small business owners who are either not online, or those in communities of color, who often carry stigma towards debt.
After our initial listening analysis, we developed a 5-month strategy to drive prospective clients to apply for loans or to enroll into training. It included tactics such as the:
- creation of PR/Media tools like media prep sheets, communications reference sheet, media interview dos and don’ts, press release template and op-ed guidelines
- development of a marketing funnel map that showed the journey starting from when a new lead submits their info on the “Apply For A Loan” section of the Accessity website
- implementation of planning tools to better organize their work such as an editorial calendar, social media checklist and blog posting system
We also experimented with new marketing strategies for them like:
- a 2-month print advertising campaign in both San Diego and the Inland Empire.
- boosting social posts alongside a two-month social ad campaign with ads in both English and Spanish
- applying for Google Ads for nonprofit, identifying keywords and launching a campaign
In addition to all of the work outlined above, another big role for Mixte was training the Accessity team, especially on the digital front, and making sure they could utilize their new tools once we had completed its work. We also planned a one-month overlap with the communications director when she returned from her time away.
The Outcome
In our short time with the team, we measured success by these achievements:
- Accessity launched its first blog 👏🏼
- Our social media campaign made over 310,000 impressions
- We placed 11 stories in a 2-month period which gained over 1.7 million views (Accessity hired us following this to continue our PR outreach)
- The print ads reached more than 631,000 people
For four months of our time together (during our activation stage), Accessity noticed an uptick in new leads through both the website and phone. Their system was unable to track where those leads originated, so we made recommendations for tracking ROI and the data we collected throughout the campaign allowed us to establish digital benchmarks as they moved forward. 🔥
